We reached out
to George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog, for his take on the
deal and what future fliers should expect from the world's
biggest airline.

Frequent flyer miles: There's not
much to worry about here. Frequent flyer miles
and statuses will be merged and, once the merger is complete,
there should be even more route combinations available to use
them.

Routes: Domestically, US Airways currently has hubs
in Philadelphia, Charlotte and Phoenix, which will connect with
American Airline's hubs in Dallas, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles
and Miami. More routes means more destinations for travelers to
choose from, and also more options for rerouting flights if one gets
cancelled or delayed, Hobica said.

Airline
fees: In a recent
Airfarewatchdog study, American Airlines ranked
as the worst offender for charging the highest travel fees,
but Hobica said he doesn't expect huge fee changes to come with
the deal. That's the good news. The bad news is that with more
airline consolidation in recent years, that means passengers have
fewer other airlines to choose from in order to avoid fees if
they want.

"The presence of competition
does keep fees down," Hobica said. "When there are fewer
airlines, it’s easier to impose your own fee structure."

Airfare costs may
rise: The merger could bring
slightly higher rates for flyers on the nonstop routes that both
American and U.S. Airways flew. The
reason? Since they're now allied,
the airlines will no longer be competing to offer the lowest
rates and lure in passengers. Unfortunately, that could mean
pricier fares, though it's worth noting there are still plenty of
other major airlines in the sky to compete with.

Hobica said he expects any fare increases to be lower than 10
percent.

A snowball effect: Since the merger will make
American Airlines/US Airways the largest airline in the country,
it could cause a ripple effect. "Airlines hate to be
No. 2," Hobica said. For that
reason, United and
Delta might soon start looking to consolidate other small
airlines, such as Frontier, Alaska and Hawaiian, to earn back the
top spot in the industry. United's already taken Continental
under its wing (thought it wasn't exactly a smooth
transition).

The bottom line: Hobica said the deal will
be a boon for the industry and open up options for travelers
flying cross-country. "I suppose the only downside you will see
is less competition, (and) slightly higher fares," he
added.

At any rate, it could be months
before travelers notice any difference in service at all, as the
ink has barely dried on the deal and it will take that long to
fully merge the two airlines together.